Television Advertising Pros and Cons

Over the last few decades, the television has come up as a strong component of mass media around the world. This, in turn, has prompted several companies to use it as a platform to advertise their products.

This mode of advertisement exploits the consumer's tendency to get attracted to the combination of audio-visual medium, which is more efficient than audio medium, such as the radio advertisement, or visual medium, such as print-ads.

A television advertisement, also referred to as a television commercial or TV Ad, is the process of imparting a sales pitch of a limited amount of time using the television as the medium.

These advertisements tend to summarize the product in order to accommodate it within a specific duration, generally ranging between 30 - 60 seconds, and convey as much information as possible.

Basically, these advertisements are customized in such a manner that they are neither too short, nor too long. That being said, television advertising has its own pros and cons, which need to be evaluated before investing in the same.

The biggest advantage of this concept is the fact that it reaches a larger audience, compared to the local newspaper or radio station, in a relatively short span of time. If required, one also has the option of catering to a smaller consumer group though the local cable network.

A TV commercial reaches the audience when they are most attentive. Most people don't like to surf channels while watching an interesting match of American football. They would rather prefer watching the advertisements than missing a single moment of the match.

Besides, TV advertising is much more interesting compared to its counterparts. The fact that it tends to exploit the vulnerability of the consumer to the combination of audio-visual medium, makes it an instant hit among masses.

It also capitalizes on the fact that adding more interesting features, such as motion, light, and sound, can improve the credibility of the message by grabbing the viewers' attention. Advertising on the television gives you ample scope to unleash your creativity and mesmerize the audience.

Like any other form of advertising, even TV advertising has its drawbacks. The foremost problem is the expenses incurred on making an advertisement. An advertisement of 30 seconds can cost you a significant amount to produce, considering that you need to hire a host of technicians, models, etc.

Furthermore, you also need to ensure that you get a good slot in the channel schedule. For this, you again have to shell out some money depending on which slot you are targeting. For instance, an ad slot at the prime time will cost you more than what you will have to pay for a late-night slot.

There is no point in airing your advertisement at a time wherein the target audience doesn't watch the TV. Making changes in the advertisement once it is produced again adds to the expenses.

In case of print advertising, this just takes a few minutes and cost incurred is also relatively less. More importantly, short advertisements are not as effective, as they don't provide much information about the product. Hence, the length of the ad has to be significant.

If you are absolutely sure that the amount of profit your product will generate will surpass your investment in making an ad film, then there can be no better medium to advertise your product.

If, however, the consumer base you are targeting is not vast and the returns expected are far less than what you need to invest, then it is better to stick to some other advertising technique which is suitable for your product.